NewScientist: China and India 'hold the world in balance'

Development giants China and India “hold the world in balance”, says a new report by a US environmental think tank.

“The choices these two countries make in the next few years will lead the world either towards growing ecological and political instability – or down a development path based on efficiency and better stewardship of resources,” says a report from the Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC, US.

The solution? A policy based on innovation.

But Flavin says countries like China and India have the chance to develop in a more benign way than already industrialised nations. “[By] leapfrogging today’s industrial powers, they can become world leaders in sustainable energy and agriculture within a decade,” he says.